The Impact of Human Activities on Freshwater Aquatic Systems

The roles of oxygen and its activated species (superoxide radicals, hydrogen peroxide, hydroxyl radicals), as well as that of sulfur compounds, are considered in relation to biological quality and the self-cleaning capacity of freshwater aquatic systems. The effects on the aquatic redox-processes are discussed in terms of atmospheric fallout of sulfur compounds, bottom sediment composition, and input of wastewaters containing reducing substances. It is shown that the totality of anthropogenic influences, and/or unfavourable natural geochemical conditions, as well as climatic effects in a region can increase the significance of one-electron transfer processes in bio-geochemical cycles of oxygen, sulfur and manganese, compared with the significance of two-electron transfer processes. The resulting, reactive intermediate products of one-electron transfer processes are very important with respect to the composition and properties of aquatic systems. Examples are given of practical applications of wastewater treatment, using hydrogen peroxide and UV-irradiation, and of regulation of consumers’ activities which affect natural waters.     

Formation of Dibenzodioxins and Dibenzofurans in the Photochemical Transformation of Polychlorinated Phenols

It is shown that in the direct photolysis of polychlorinated phenols (2,4,5-TCP, PCP) in aqueous solution, under the action of solar light or UV-radiation from artificial sources, polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDD) and dibenzofurans (PCDF) are found among the products of transformation. A mechanism is suggested of formation of these toxic compounds via the intermediate formation of free radicals. In the oxidation of chlorophenols by singlet oxygen, free radicals are not formed. Addition of fulvic acids prevents formation of PCDD and PCDF in solar light, possibly as a result of trapping of intermediate radicals.     

Elimination of Swimming Pool Water Disinfection By‐products with Advanced Oxidation Processes (AOPs)

Ozonation is a treatment step which was first applied in the 1960s in pool water treatment for disinfection as well as for oxidation of pool water contaminants. Contact time between ozone and pool water was identified to be of significance with an increased elimination efficiency regarding chloramines, trihalogenmethane formation potential and the permanganate index for longer reaction times. Oxidation via OH radicals might be the dominating pathway. In this study ozonation was compared with the ozone based advanced oxidation processes ozone/UV and ozone/hydrogen peroxide regarding the elimination efficiency of both disinfection by‐products (DBPs) and DBP precursors. It was observed that AOPs in comparison to ozonation showed an increased elimination efficiency regarding total organic carbon (TOC), the organically bound halogens adsorbable on activated carbon (AOX) and AOX formation potential. A contact time of 3 minutes between pool water and oxidant turned out to be practically sufficient. Just for the trihalomethane (THM) formation potential ozonation showed a slight advantage compared to the AOPs because ozonation is a highly selective oxidant and OH radical reactions are known to produce small reactive molecules which are easier transformed to THMs. Combination of membrane filtration and AOPs resulted in an elimination of 10 to 90 % of the DBPs and their precursors. The ozone/hydrogen peroxide process is suggested for pool water treatment because of the higher elimination rates compared to ozonation and of economic reasons compared to the ozone/UV process.